Thursday morning Will dressed in a hurry, and got Arianna ready in record time, texting Marlena and asking if she could meet him at Club TBD to pick up Ari for the day instead of coming to the apartment. Once he got her confirmation he buckled Ari into the stroller and picked up her diaper bag, before he walked out the door.
He made it to the club in just less than fifteen minutes. He opened the door and pushed the stroller in. He looked around expectantly. He saw Lauren behind the counter but he did not see Sonny anywhere.
He walked up to the counter and ordered a coffee and a blueberry muffin. While he waited for her to get his order together, he asked about Sonny.
"Sonny here yet?" he asked her.
"Not yet." She said. "He has been coming in late though."
"Yeah and leaving early." Will said.
She shrugged her shoulders at him, handed him his order and took the pro offered money, dropping into the till.
Will went over and took the seat that he used to occupy, when he used to spend the biggest portion of his time here.
He broke apart the muffin and pinched off a small bite. He pulled out his laptop and attempted to work some more on the article about Paul. As it always did, when he was writing time got away from him and Marlena startled when she dropped into the booth opposite of him.
She immediately took Ari from her stroller and cuddled her. "How is my favorite princess today?" she crooned, kissing the baby on her forehead.
"Hello to you too, grandma." Will teased.
"Good morning" she said smiling at him. "How are you today?"
"Good Grandma. It has been a fabulous week." He revealed.
"Sounds interesting." She said. "Anything you want to tell me about?"
"Not yet." Will said. "But soon, if things continue to go well."
"Fair enough." She said. "I better get this girl home, it looks like it may come a flood out there."
"Thanks for meeting me Grandma." Will said, "I am waiting for Sonny to get here and then I have to get to class."
"Alright then dear, see you this afternoon." She said.
Will stood taking Arianna, he kissed her good bye before buckling her back in her stroller for Marlena.
After they were gone he looked at his watch. If Sonny didn't show soon, Will knew he was going to be late for his class. He sat back down and started shutting down his computer. With the exception of a few minor changes and corrections he was about done with the article. He placed his laptop back in his carrier bag and finished his breakfast, but there was still no sign of Sonny.
Will looked at his phone, expecting to have a text explaining what had happened or a missed call or something, but there was nothing. He got up and walked over to the counter to speak to Lauren again.
"Lauren, have you heard from Sonny?" he asked.
"No nothing." She said, looking at Will sympathetically.
He went back to the table, he was determined to see Sonny today, and if Sonny wasn't going to come to the club then he would just have to go by his apartment.
Will grabbed his bag and left the club. He hurried over to the apartment building Sonny had moved into with Brian. He went up to the Fourth floor and knocked on the door.
It was a couple of minutes before Brian pulled the door open. "Will, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Is Sonny home?" Will said, ignoring the other man's question.
"He is still in bed." Brian said. "We both were." He said pointedly… he sighed when Will didn't take the hint and leave. "Come on in and have a seat and I will get him for you." He groused, stepping back allowing him entrance into the apartment.
Will walked in and closed the door behind him. He sat down in one of the kitchen chairs and held his bag in his lap. This was the last place that he should be. He had broken out into a cold sweat. This was a bad idea.
After a few minutes, Sonny shuffled out of the bedroom in a pair of pajama bottoms with no shirt. "Will what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I uhhhh…. Wanted to make sure you are okay." Will mumbled. "You were supposed to meet me at the club this morning."
"Oh God… Will, I'm really sorry I completely forgot." Sonny said. "We were up late and I uhhhh overslept."
"Sorry Will, guess that would have been my fault." Brian said triumphantly, he pulled Sonny closed and kissed his neck, "I kept him up waay past midnight, and woke him up before daylight this morning."
Sonny twisted out of his embrace and glared at Brian. "I was going to just go in later today Will. I am really sorry you were worried."
"It's okay…" Will stammered. "I will just talk to you later on. Sorry to bother you." He mumbled, getting up and throwing his bag on his shoulder. He made a beeline for the door, rushing out without even closing it behind him.
Once Will was out of sight, Sonny swung the door closed, and wheeled around on Brian. "Was that necessary?" he asked.
"What?" Brian asked innocently.
"Don't give me that." Sonny snapped, "You were deliberately taunting Will."
"I was not." Brian said. "What is the problem Sonny, don't you think that Will knows that we sleep together?"
"I'm sure he does," Sonny said "But there is no need to twist the knife."
"If Will doesn't like the facts, then he shouldn't have come here. I am not going to downplay our relationship for him, and you shouldn't either. It just makes things more difficult for Will to accept it." Brian said.
"I don't downplay anything, I just don't shove unnecessary details into anyone's face." Sonny railed.
"Fine…. Agree to disagree." Brian said. "We had a great night last night, an amazing morning…. before we were interrupted… I don't want to fight."
"I want you to promise me that you won't do anything like that again. EVER!" Sonny said. "I want you to respect that Will is my friend and put a little trust in me."
"I will put a little trust in you, when you stop hiding things from me." Brian said.
"What did I hide from you?" Sonny asked. "I am trying here, but you have to meet me half way."
"Yeah you are trying…. Will is trying….. Everyone is trying here, everyone but me…. I just underestimated him, that's all, I never figured he would come here, when you didn't show up…."
"What are you talking about?" Sonny asked. He quickly put two and two together in his head. "Last night…. You were reading my text messages when I come from brushing my teeth weren't you." Sonny's voice was rising with every word. "You knew Will asked me to meet him this morning and you made it your mission to make sure that I didn't make it. DIDN'T YOU?" he said practically screaming now.
"Yes." Brian said without shame. "I read them. It has been such a great week for us and I didn't want Will to intrude on that."
"Will happens to live in this town." Sonny said incredulously. "Even if we weren't friends we are going to run into each other from time to time."
"But you don't need to be planning secret meetings with him." Brian spat out.
"Well since you read the fucking text messages you should know that Will said he was dropping by the club for a cup of coffee before class. Lord forbid we have a PRIVATE meeting in the club with my employees and all the other customers in the morning rush." He said sarcastically.
"OKAY FINE," Brian shouted back, "Maybe I overreacted a little."
"Brian…. This is going to tear us apart, can't you see that. I am doing my best to keep us on track but I need your help." He said.
"I don't know what to do." Brian admitted.
"Neither do I." Sonny said sadly.
Will went straight back to his apartment. He was in no shape to go to class. He should never have gone to Sonny's apartment. He was ill feeling, nauseated and sweating.
He and Sonny were done. He knew it, had accepted it…. He was even moving on with his own life. But he felt like he had been sucker punched when Brian made it a point to make sure he knew they were still in bed together.
Will knew what it was like to be with Sonny, to love him, and to be loved by him. He could remember in vivid detail every single moment he had ever spent in Sonny's arms, in his bed. Being with Sonny was a happiness that he had never known…. Not before Sonny… and not since they had broken up.
He dropped his messenger bag just inside the door and blindly went straight to his bedroom. He climbed in the middle of the bed and curled up into the fetal position, and he just let it out, all of the pent up emotions that had been building within him over the last year and a half.
He had never let himself cry after finding out that Sonny was going to marry Brian. He figured that he was getting what he deserved after he lied time after time. So he had taken the punishment like a man. He had not cried, not one single tear. Now that damn had burst and loud ragged sobs ripped from him. He cried until there was nothing left… all the hurt and pain was purged and he was left with nothing but a cold empty feeling.
At some point he must have fell asleep, because he woke later to the late afternoon sun streaming through the window. He was still curled up in the same position. He moved and his muscles groaned in protest. His eyes felt like sandpaper, his throat not much better, and his head felt like there was someone in there swinging a sledgehammer. Will groaned and closed his eyes again, determined not to move, however his bladder demanded otherwise. He got up and stumbled to the bathroom, then got a few ibuprofens out of the medicine cabinet and took them with water straight from the tap.
He looked at the alarm clock and realized that he was supposed to be picking Arianna up from his grandmothers in less than a half hour. He knew he needed a shower and wasn't going to make it. He needed to let her know, so he reached for his phone in his back pocket, but didn't find it there. He remembered that he had dropped it in his bag this morning.
He opened the bedroom door, wondering how it got closed in the first place. He went out into the living room and was startled to see Abigail sitting on the couch, text book in her lap and Arianna asleep on the couch beside her.
She looked up when he walked into the room. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Like shit." He answered truthfully. "What are you doing here?"
"Sonny called me." She said. "He asked if I would check on you. So I went and got this little lady and came right over."
"Wow, how gallant of him." Will said snidely. "I guess I owe him one."
"I'm sorry Will." She said softly. "Why don't I put Ari in her crib and make you some coffee and we can talk about it."
"I'll take her." Will said. He bent down and scooped his baby girl off the couch, cuddling her close and kissing her softly. He carried her into the nursery and laid her down. Then he got the baby monitor and turned it on, taking it into the living room.
He sank down on the couch and laid his head back against the cushion. He tried to rationalize the events of the morning with himself. He knew that very little of what happened this morning was on Sonny… He was the one who had lied and pushed Sonny into Brian's arms, He was the one that avoided seeing Brian and Sonny together as much as possible so he wouldn't have to face reality, he was the one that made the decision to go over to Sonny's apartment this morning, without stopping to think that Brian may be there. And Brian was the one that made sure that Will knew exactly why Sonny had forgotten that he had plans with Will. So there was really no reason for him to be upset with Sonny.
"Soooo…. What happened?" Abigail asked sitting down beside Will, handing him a steaming hot cup of liquid.
Will gave her the short version on the events of the morning, leaving out the part about him crying and sobbing like an baby.
"WOW" Abigail said. "That sucks. Brian is a real asshole. Kinda seems like he has a bad jealous streak to me."
Will shrugged….. "I guess." He said. "I did ask Sonny to meet me at the club this morning, but I just wanted to talk to him, I haven't seen him all week and I had so much to tell him."
"About Paul?" Abigail asked, changing the direction of the conversation.
"Yeah." Will said. "I had a really good time with him last weekend, and for the first time in a long time I felt something besides dread…. When I was out with someone else. I wanted to share that with my best friend."
"What do you mean dread?" Abigail asked.
"Well you know I have dated Neil on and off…." Will said.
Abigail nodded…. Yes she knew that….
"I always dreaded it when it was time to go out. Neil was a nice guy…. Kind of handsy at times, but nice. Anyway, I would be flattered when he would ask, I would accept…. And then when the day of the date arrived, I would spend the whole day trying to think up and excuse to cancel…. And I always found a way to end it early. He would get frustrated with me, but he kept asking… So I kept accepting."
"OH." Abigail said. "And it wasn't like that with Paul?" she asked.
"No." Will said. "Not at all, I couldn't wait for Saturday to get here…. And then Saturday, I didn't want it to end."
"Sounds like you really like him." She observed.
Will nodded. "I do, it's too bad I have to cancel our date tomorrow night." He said.
"Why would you do that?" Abigail asked confused.
"Well obviously judging by my reaction today. I am not over Sonny…. And I don't want to make a mess out of this relationship. I will just explain to him, and hopefully when I am over Sonny he will still be around." Will said.
"I don't think you need to do that at all." Abigail said. "Will you are allowed to feel pain, and what Brian did would have affected even the strongest person. Let yourself have this happiness Will, you have to know and accept that you deserve it."
Will looked at her. "You really think so?" he asked.
"Absolutely." Abigail said. "I like this guy Will, I saw him last night in the park, he walked me home because it was late and he was concerned about me. It was really sweet."
"That sounds like something he would do." Will said. "Did I tell you he opened the car doors for me?" he said, still amazed at that small fact.
"He is a real gentleman." She agreed. "So keep your date… understand?"
"I am keeping the date." Will said. "Let's hope he isn't too much of a gentleman…." He said wiggling his eye brows at her… feeling better already, maybe exactly what he needed was to replace the memories that he had of his time with Sonny, with new ones….. with Paul.